SNLhttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/snl
en-usSun, 02 Aug 2015 14:57:37 -0400Sun, 02 Aug 2015 14:57:37 -0400The latest news on SNL from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-tina-fey-and-colin-jost-on-donald-trump-presidential-run-2015-7Tina Fey and Colin Jost agreed that Donald Trump's presidential run is 'wonderful' for 'SNL'http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-tina-fey-and-colin-jost-on-donald-trump-presidential-run-2015-7
Wed, 29 Jul 2015 10:55:00 -0400Jethro Nededog
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55b8dd212acae76e098b99dc-1500-1125/tina fey tca snl donald trump.jpg" alt="tina fey TCA snl donald trump" data-mce-source="Getty Images" /></p><p>Tina Fey and Colin Jost definitely agree that Donald Trump's presidential campaign is a laughing matter.</p>
<p>Fey&nbsp;fielded questions on her Netflix series, "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," during the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills, California on Tuesday.</p>
<p>When asked how she felt about Trump being the front runner in the GOP presidential race,<a href="http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/tina-fey-donald-trump-presidential-bid-unbreakable-kimmy-schmidt-tca-1201549715/" target="_blank"> the former "30 Rock" star&nbsp;responded</a>, "It's great for comedy!"</p>
<p>Fey, who used to be the head writer for NBC's "SNL,"&nbsp;added,&nbsp;<span>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure &lsquo;Saturday Night Live&rsquo; wished they were on the air right now."</span></p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55b8dd4c2acae7c23f8b8708-1440-1080/colin jost snl weekend update.jpg" alt="colin jost snl weekend update" data-mce-source="NBC" />She's certainly on the right track. Writer and "Weekend Update" co-anchor Colin Jost hopes that the Trump spectacle will still be going when "SNL" returns in the fall.</p>
<p><span>"It's crazy. I'm guessing he's still going to be around when we come back so hopefully it will have reached a nice fever pitch. It's just amazing," Jost <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-what-colin-jost-needs-to-improve-on-weekend-update-2015-7">told Business Insider </a>while promoting his new film, "Staten Island Summer."</span></p>
<p>Jost is tickled at the idea that Trump may even advance in the race: "<span>Who would not want to see Trump and Hillary [Clinton] debate?"</span></p>
<p><span>"It would be so wonderful, it's like as a comedy writer, and you don't care about America, you're just rooting for him as a comedy writer," he continued. "I don't think he's going anywhere. In the meantime, before it gets to an actual decision, I'm thrilled that he's around because the entertainment value is high."&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><em>Jason Guerrasio contributed to this report.</em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-nbc-apprentice-payment-disclosure-2015-7" >Here's the astronomical figure Donald Trump claims he made from NBC's 'The Apprentice'</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>MORE:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-what-colin-jost-needs-to-improve-on-weekend-update-2015-7" >SNL's Colin Jost says this is the biggest thing he needs to improve on as 'Weekend Update' co-anchor</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-tina-fey-and-colin-jost-on-donald-trump-presidential-run-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-from-new-york-snl-documentary-trailer-comedy-2015-4">A behind-the-scenes look at Saturday Night Live — the comedy institution created by a 'strange Canadian’</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/saturday-night-live-how-an-episode-is-put-together-2015-7Here's the grueling and intense process it takes to put together one episode of 'SNL'http://www.businessinsider.com/saturday-night-live-how-an-episode-is-put-together-2015-7
Wed, 08 Jul 2015 09:05:00 -0400Ian Phillips
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/559ae7c32acae719008b5cc1-1920-960/1380760450931_373_21yydc6oj7gq1_0_0.jpg" alt="Amy Poehler weekend update" data-mce-source="NBC/" /></p><p>It takes a lot to pull off a brand new, live 90 minutes of television every week.</p>
<p>When you work for "Saturday Night Live," your work schedule tends to be kind of crazy.</p>
<p>The "Saturday Night Live" schedule has been in place for 40 years, and while a weekly live sketch show can be hit-or-miss, this routine has produced some comedy gold.&nbsp;</p>
<p>A new <a href="http://www.snltheexhibition.com/">"Saturday Night Live" Exhibition</a>, fittingly in New York City, celebrates the hard work that goes into creating the live comedy institution. It includes costumes, photos, and even recreations of sets made by the same people who designed the originals.</p>
<p>The&nbsp;exhibit is broken up day by day, to give a precise feeling of what exactly happens each day throughout&nbsp;the six-day "SNL" work week.</p>
<p>Using artifacts from the exhibit, here is a breakdown of a week at "Saturday Night Live."</p>
<h3><strong>On Monday, writers and cast members meet to pitch jokes and toss around story ideas.</strong></h3>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/55802984f7b10595358b5063-2235-2309/snlrock2.jpg" alt="SNL The Rock" data-mce-source="Ian Phillips/Business Insider" />Writers and cast members meet to begin pitching jokes and sketch ideas. Meanwhile, SNL creator and producer Lorne Michaels, the writers and cast&nbsp;meet with hosts and figure out their abilities. Michaels and the show's head writers then decide which of these ideas are best, and which play to the host's strengths. &nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>Tuesday is a writing day.</strong></h3>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/55802c8af7b10531008b55dd-3209-1605/not ready for primetime.jpg" alt="SNL 1970s" data-mce-source="Ian Phillips/Business Insider via SNL The Exhibition" />Writers will usually pull all-nighters to get sketches done. When the show first began, writing sessions were notoriously mixed with heavy drug use. Today, that is not a factor.&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>Wednesday is when everybody gathers around to read through sketches.</strong></h3>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/558ad12c371d2278018b4b0f-3264-2448/fullsizerender.jpg" alt="SNL Writers" data-mce-source="Ian Phillips/Business Insider" />Every Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m., everyone from the host to writers to cast members to production assistants gather in the writer's room to read the week's possible sketches.&nbsp;<span>Actors read through parts while "[music director Eli] Brueggeman sits at a keyboard in the corner to accompany the sketches with music," according to the exhibit.</span></p>
<p>According to the museum, the meeting doesn't end until every single sketch is read. Typically, the meeting is "roughly" three hours long.&nbsp;</p>
<h3><strong>On Thursday, sets start getting built.</strong></h3>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/557b388971ca1be9008b521e-2455-1227/navy yard photo snl.jpg" alt="Brooklyn Navy Yard SNL Exhibit" data-mce-source="Ian Phillips/Business Insider" />At 6 a.m., construction of the sets for the week's show begins in&nbsp;Stiegelbauer shop in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/557f3abc71ca1be9008b53bd-2448-3264/fullsizerender (1) copy 2.jpg" alt="SNL Californians" data-mce-source="Ian Phillips/Business Insider" />Back in Manhattan, cast and crew prepare for rehearsals. Meanwhile, costumes, wigs, and make-up are designed and created as pre-taped segments, such as commercial parodies and digital shorts, go into production.</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/557b37bef7b105936f8b4b9b-2448-3264/conehead.jpg" alt="Conehead" data-mce-source="Ian Phillips/Business Insider" /></p>
<h3><strong>Friday is marked by rehearsals and rewrites.</strong></h3>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/557b4ce0f7b105ad098b5332-3264-1632/fullsizerender copy 3.jpg" alt="SNL Cue Cards" data-mce-source="Ian Phillips/Business Insider" />It's just one day before the live show, and things are frantic and chaotic at Studio 8H, just as it should be. Sketches are rehearsed and rewritten over and over again. Cue cards are prepared. Scripts are reviewed by the network censors.</p>
<p><span>The sets are finally shipped over from Brooklyn. They can be no taller than 9 feet in order to fit into the freight elevators at 30 Rock</span><span>.</span></p>
<h3><strong>Saturday is the day of the big show, but the work isn't over just yet.</strong></h3>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/557f3b5771ca1bfa328b4ea3-3264-2448/fullsizerender (4) copy.jpg" alt="SNL Wayne's World" data-mce-source="Ian Phillips/Business Insider" />This is the day of the show, and yet there is still a lot to do. Last minute adjustments to sets, lighting, costumes, and wigs are made. Even on the day of the show, changes continue to get made to the script.</p>
<p>At 8:00 p.m., a crowd sits to watch a dress rehearsal for the show. This gives time for any last minute changes to be made, and any sketches that don't get laughs will get cut before the final show at 11:30 p.m.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5582d30071ca1b050c8b568a-2448-3264/fullsizerender copy.jpg" alt="SNL Spartan Cheerleaders" data-mce-source="Ian Phillips/Business Insider" />After the show ends, there is a big after party that lasts through the night.</p>
<p>According to a sign in the&nbsp;museum, back in the 1970s, "[John] Belushi and [Dan] Aykroyd threw an even more exclusive after-after-party for the favored few in a downtown dive bar on Hudson and Dominick streets they took over and renamed the Blues Bar. Musicians jammed. Belushi and Aykroyd joined them on stage. Keith Richards was said to have tended bar. And no one went home until late the next morning."<strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.snltheexhibition.com/">Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition</a>&nbsp;is now on display at Premier Exhibitions in Manhattan&nbsp;at 417 5th Avenue between 37th &amp; 38th.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/saturday-night-live-first-show-after-911-2015-4" >New ‘Saturday Night Live’ documentary recounts the emotional first show after 9/11</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>AND:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-judd-apatow-returned-to-stand-up-2015-6#ixzz3dQPO4lgX" >Why Judd Apatow returned to stand-up after a two decade hiatus</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/saturday-night-live-how-an-episode-is-put-together-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-from-new-york-snl-documentary-trailer-comedy-2015-4">A behind-the-scenes look at Saturday Night Live — the comedy institution created by a 'strange Canadian’</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-writers-on-hardest-sketches-2015-63 'Saturday Night Live' writers describe their toughest sketcheshttp://www.businessinsider.com/snl-writers-on-hardest-sketches-2015-6
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 14:05:00 -0400Dan Reilly
<p><span><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/557afcfb6da8115430818323-1031-654/screen%20shot%202015-06-12%20at%2011.37.53%20am.png" border="0" alt="SNL Kristen wiig"></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">For a comedy writer, having even one sketch make it to air on </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Saturday Night Live </em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">is a dream come true. On the other hand, trying to get a scene to go from page to screen can be a living nightmare for the staff scribes.</span></p>
<p><span>As current employee Mike O'Brien and former writers Emily Spivey and Simon Rich reveal, what often seems hilarious on paper can lead to hellish shoots or, thanks to constant rewrites and last-minute hiccups, a disaster that plays out in real time. With the documentary </span><em><a href="http://www.livefromnewyorkmovie.com">Live From New York</a> </em><span>coming out today and presenting the show as a rosy place to work, Vulture asked the trio to pick the sketches that gave them the most trouble and lasting agita, and explain how it all went down. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Emily Spivey, <em>SNL </em>2001–2010, creator <em>Up All Night</em>, </strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">co-executive producer</strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"> <em>The Last Man on Earth</em> <br></strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Sketch: 2009's "The Today Show With Kathie Lee and Hoda: The Black Eyed Peas and Animals"</strong></p>
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<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I want to preface this by saying sometimes the funniest moments from </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">SNL</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> are the times where the wheels come off. When you're going through it — it's the worst, you just want to die — but looking back on it, seeing the wheels come off is the funniest thing in the world.</span></p>
<p>The<em> Today</em> show sketch was always a tough one. Whenever you have a situation where you can put different guests in there, it's always changing right up until air. By the time this particular sketch got on the air, the co-writer, Marika Sawyer, and I had been up for probably 36 hours straight. Thinking back on it, that's probably the most time I ever spent on one sketch because it kept being like, "Add this person in, put this in, put that in."</p>
<p>We started out with a pretty solid little sketch: just Kristen Wiig doing her thing as Kathie Lee. In the read-through, the lovemaking ritual of Frank and Kathie Gifford was like four pages long. That was actually what brought the house down: the whole build-up of them making a fine paste and putting it on each other's genitalia. There was also a whole run about them doing it in the gazebo, and it played like gangbusters. But then, people got cold feet because Frank Gifford's a legend and he's getting up there in age. We can't have mean upon mean upon mean, so we had to take some of it out. Right off the bat, it was — I don't want to say doomed, but it had been cut off at the knees a little bit because that had been the focal point of the whole scene.</p>
<p>We also worried about being so mean with Kathie Lee's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdwqrKSCQmc">"Everyone Has a Story"</a> song because we truly love Kathie Lee. We adore her. We had a florist on speed dial to send her flowers after this sketch. She works in the same building, her wardrobe people are the same as our wardrobe people, and they said, "Tread lightly — Kathie Lee takes this song super seriously." But, of course, it got laughs at the table, so we wanted to keep it. Already, our b-holes were really tight about that and what Kathie Lee was going to say. Then we decide that January Jones will play an animal trainer. Poor January, who's already nervous about doing live television, had to be surrounded by reptiles and a live tiger.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/557aff8c6da811ca47818325-1200-858/screen%20shot%202015-06-12%20at%2011.48.35%20am.png" border="0" alt="Kristen Wiig SNL Kathy lee"></p>
<p>So all that was going on and the musical guest was the Black Eyed Peas, and we kept hearing, "Fergie wants to be in something." Finally it came down to us. Because we were so tired, we just said, "Let's have her be so irritated by Kathie Lee that she storms in." And she does this funny bit where she pretends to beat up Kathie Lee. So now we're doubling down on how pissed Kathie Lee is going to be: We're making fun of her song, she's getting beat up, <em>and</em> we're calling her a drunk on television.</p>
<p>After the second rehearsal, we get a call that the rest of the Black Eyed Peas want to see us because they saw the rehearsals and said, "Well, why can't we be in the sketch?" so we were sent in to meet them. We go in there blind, thinking they had an idea of what they wanted to do. We're met with blank, irritated faces. I particularly remember that will.i.am was super irritated and said, "We want to be in this sketch." I said, "Okay, what are your ideas?" and he said, "You're the comedy writer. What are <em>your </em>ideas?" And I, because I had been up for almost 40 hours straight now, said, "Well, you said you wanted to be in the sketch, so we just assumed you had ideas." I'm never that sassy — usually I'm a sweet Southern girl, polite to the end. He went, "Well, that doesn't make sense. That's like me coming into your office and saying, 'Why don't you do a rap right now?'" I panicked and mumbled something about having to go check on the tigers, and Marika and I ran out of the room. So, we handled it perfectly.</p>
<p>I remember saying, "Let's go look at the tiger. We'll figure something out. Maybe the tiger will give us some spiritual guidance." We go in, there's the tiger, and the trainer looks stricken. He says, "This tiger is really scared. I think it's going to be dangerous to put it out there with January. I don't think it's going to work." I said, "What do you mean it's not going to work? She's playing an animal trainer. She has to be surrounded by animals!" So we had to figure out how to write something for Fergie, Will.i.am, the other Black Eyed Peas, and now January? This couldn't happen. That's why, when you watch the sketch, January is standing there with a bunch of empty cages with sheets thrown over them, and the prop guy is backstage shaking the cages like there are animals in there. And beside her on the table is an iguana that looks like it's dead.</p>
<p>It was the first sketch after the monologue. There was so much pressure on it. Scrapping it was never an option. This was the worst-case scenario. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. God love everybody involved. They all just powered through it, but oof. I'm pretty sure Kristen went to lunch with Kathie Lee after that sketch. They had wine together and she had to smooth things over. Even thinking about it now, I'm sweating. It was so scary. After all that work, when I look back on it I laugh so hard, but during that time it was the craziest situation I had ever been in.</p>
<p><strong>Simon Rich, <em>SNL </em>2008–2011; creator <em>Man Seeking Woman<br></em></strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Sketch: 2008's "Jar Glove"</strong></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Jar Glove" is a parody I wrote during my first few months on the show. I was trying to satirize how infomercials show what life is like without the product they're selling. They always make it seem like it's this hellish experience and it's always black-and-white and melodramatic. I thought it would be fun to take it to its logical, absurdist conclusion. I don't remember pitching it, but I remember handing the script to Seth Meyers to see what he thought. (I don't know how he did it, but every single Tuesday night, in addition to usually writing the best sketches of the week, he would also read hundreds of sketches by all the cast and writers and tell us which ones had legs and then help us improve them. He would often write the best jokes in other people's sketches, uncredited.)</span></p>
<p>I was coming from the world of print — I had only really written for places like <em>The New Yorker </em>— and I didn't know a thing about film production. I would turn scripts in and only then would it dawn on me that human actors might actually have to endure the pages I'd written, and this is an example. It was a grueling, all-day shoot for Kristen Wiig, and she was an incredible actor, extremely hard-working and willing to do whatever it took to sell the jokes, but I definitely felt guilty when she was stuck inside of that drain pipe. She never complained.</p>
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<p>Jimmy Signorelli directed it and I was on the set but contributed literally nothing. (We filmed it at the Douglas House in Rockland County. It's been used for a ton of commercial parodies and sketches, including "<a href="http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/schmitts-gay/n10163" data-track="Body Text Link: External">Schmitt's Gay</a>.") I mostly just watched from a distance, looking guilty as people did incredibly difficult and sometimes borderline un-producible things to service this crazy idea. One of the many things I regret is the inclusion of dogs, which I remember tripling the work for everybody. In hindsight, some barking sound effects would have done the job, but that's not something that occurred to me.</p>
<p>The great thing about <em>SNL</em> is you get to learn on the job. It can be scary, but I'm so thrilled that Lorne Michaels allowed me to make so many mistakes during those early years. I've never learned so much so fast in all my life. I definitely learned a lot on this endless, hellish shooting day. In general, I learned to never put flying in the sketch, and, whenever possible, try to limit the use of animals. Those are two biggies. Although, for all my talk of dogs, I ended up putting them in numerous other sketches. I always knew it was a bad idea and I always did it anyway. I wrote <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/99942" data-track="Body Text Link: External">another commercial parody</a> the next year, a dog-food parody. It was during the recession and it was a bargain brand called "Mostly Garbage," and they brought in more dogs. So, I learned a little bit on the job, but not that much.</p>
<p>It's ironic, given my history of incompetent television producing, that I would try to do such a labor-intensive show as <em>Man Seeking Woman</em>, which is full of monsters and special effects. We wrote a scene in season one where Jay Baruchel goes on a series of first dates and, in every date, he manages to somehow light himself on fire. Luckily, having gone through <em>SNL</em>, I decided at the last minute that maybe we should write something a little more doable with less potential liability. </p>
<p><strong>Mike O'Brien, <em>SNL </em>2009–Present<br>Sketches: 2012's "We're Going to Make Technology Hump" and </strong><strong>2015's "Prom Queen"</strong></p>
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<p>I don't know where the idea for "We're Going to Make Technology Hump" came from, but the sketch was very fun to write. I had the most fun writing those little soap-opera scenes, and they were obviously much longer and more involved at the Wednesday table read. By that time, you're trying to get the piece down to three minutes or so for Saturday, so those parts get trimmed down a bit.</p>
<p>One of the cool things about <em>SNL</em> is that they often take these very silly ideas and suddenly you show up at the shoot and there's this amazing production value to it. There were these three miniature sets and big groups of guys huddled around them working on making replica lettuce and tomato that would all be a centimeter big, maybe smaller. The film crew was lighting it so it looked like sunset coming through the windows.</p>
<p>The first one we did, another writer, Shelly Gossman, and I were hand stand-ins for what might have been a 15-hour shoot, just hunched over those tables, trying to get just the right shot of technology humping for hours and hours. We shot all day and night Friday. It was so long and tedious.</p>
<p>With shoots like that, you just see people being broken. I remember a crew guy on the phone with his wife, explaining to her that he wasn't going to be home when he thought he was going to be, and it's because we're having a cell phone hump a nav screen. I'm hearing him saying, "No, I can't. I'm so sorry." I imagine it was their anniversary. "No, I've got to continue making technology hump, so I'm going to miss the anniversary." There's a general understanding that it's their job, but once it's real people doing it, it makes you question the content that you were chuckling at as you were typing it in the middle of Tuesday night.</p>
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<p>That one wasn't too demanding on the host, but "Prom Queen" with Michael Keaton from this past season was. So, in that way, I hadn't learned the lesson. It was something we talked about but we were like, "I don't know how to make it have less Keaton. He's the lead and needs to be in basically every scene." With someone like him, I didn't just want to make him one of the extra teachers. That's no fun. You want to see Keaton as the lead, but we did need him to shoot from midnight until question mark on Friday night, knowing he's going to go home, get a small amount of sleep and come back for a 14-hour day that ends in a live show. You're like, "We gotta get him outta here!" but you're balancing that with "We've got to get all the shots so we have a narrative to piece together." On Tuesdays, that's a constant debate: "This video would be better if we had the host in it and we could film it at 50 locations, but since we're going to have to shoot this all in one day and we don't want to break the crew, the host, and everyone's spirits for life, what's a way we can trim this down?" You end up having everything happen in one location. On Wednesday, the bosses said, "Go sell Keaton on 'Prom Queen,' or describe it to him, make it so he's enthused about it because we're going to have to keep him up in the middle of the night before he hosts." He was receptive to it right away and then I emailed him the script that night and he immediately had thoughts and ideas of what could be good, so luckily he was that type of host.</p>
<p>There are some times where the host is a little confused by the tone of it, like J.K. Simmons was all for being in "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzg9Iu0uEeg" data-track="Body Text Link: External">The Jay Z Story</a>," but he was obviously very curious. He said, "I don't really know who Nas is or how he talks," and I was saying, "You don't have to." And he's like, "But I'm Nas?" and I'm like, "Yeah, I know it's a little weird, but once you see it it'll make sense." He hadn't heard that one at the table read so he was like, "How are you doing your Jay Z? Is there any blackface in this video?" I said, "No, of course not. Jay Pharaoh will do an impression of Jay Z at one point but otherwise, no one is trying to nail impressions of these people. In fact, the opposite. Just be yourself." He said, "Okay, then why? What is it? What the hell is this thing?" And then he got it.</p>
<p>It's just so hard when you get into writing something. The whole idea of what's exciting to us about this profession is you think, <em>What if anything could happen now?</em> and anything you think of, you can type. It's hard to say, "Let's just make this a quick exchange in a normal-looking office." You've got to be like, "A dragon could walk through. Let's do it!"</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-writers-on-hardest-sketches-2015-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-from-new-york-snl-documentary-trailer-comedy-2015-4">A behind-the-scenes look at Saturday Night Live — the comedy institution created by a 'strange Canadian’</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-lands-staten-island-summer-with-snl-stars-2015-6Netflix reportedly nabs comedic lifeguard movie starring a bunch of 'SNL' starshttp://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-lands-staten-island-summer-with-snl-stars-2015-6
Thu, 11 Jun 2015 15:45:00 -0400Jethro Nededog
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5579c50fecad049a3249d052-1200-924/snl-weekendupdate-colin-jost.jpg" border="0" alt="snl Weekend_Update colin jost"></p><p>Netflix may be adding the "Saturday Night Live" star-packed comedy movie, "Staten Island Summer," to its growing list of original movies.</p>
<p>The streaming company is finalizing a deal with the movie's producer Paramount Insurge, <a href="http://www.thewrap.com/netflix-lands-snl-packed-lifeguard-comedy-staten-island-summer-exclusive/?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=mailchimp" target="_blank">TheWrap</a> reported.</p>
<p>If the deal is completed, the movie will premiere exclusively on Netflix starting July 30.</p>
<p>A Netflix representative told Business Insider it had no comment on the report.</p>
<p>"Staten Island Summer" was written by "SNL" writer and "Weekend Update" co-host Colin Jost and directed by "SNL" director Rhys Thomas. The NBC sketch show's creator Lorne Michaels and John Goldwyn produced the independent film.</p>
<p>"Staten Island Summer" centers on pals Danny (Graham Phillips) and Frank (Zack Pearlman), who spend the summer after high school working as lifeguards while figuring out their future.</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5579c7c569bedd070249d057-522-392/saturday-night-live-tina-turner-3.png" border="0" alt="Saturday Night Live Tina Turner">The movie's cast is packed with "SNL" stars and alums, including&nbsp;<span>Bobby Moynihan, Will Forte, Fred Armisen, and Cecily Strong.</span></p>
<p>It also co-stars Ashley Greene (“Twilight”) and John DeLuca (“Teen Beach Movie”) along with Jim Gaffigan, rapper Method Man, and Jackson Nicoll (“Bad Grandpa”).&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Kate Walsh (“Private Practice”) and Gina Gershon (“Killer Joe”) make cameos in the movie.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Staten Island Summer" joins Netflix's growing cache of original movies, which include Judd Apatow-produced&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">“Pee-wee’s Big Holiday," Ricky Gervais' “Special Correspondents,” and Adam Sandler's “The Ridiculous 6,” the first of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-comedy-actor-adam-sandler-signs-four-film-deal-with-netflix-2014-10" target="_blank">a four-film</a> pact between Netflix and Sandler's production company Happy Madison Productions.</span></p>
<p>Earlier this week, Netflix acquired <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-buys-brad-pitts-next-movie-2015-6" target="_blank">Brad Pitt film</a>, “War Machine."</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-buys-brad-pitts-next-movie-2015-6" >Netflix makes its biggest deal yet by buying Brad Pitt’s next movie</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-degrassi-pickup-2015-6" >Netflix just saved teen favorite 'Degrassi' from cancelation</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-lands-staten-island-summer-with-snl-stars-2015-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marvels-new-ant-man-trailer-movie-paul-rudd-michael-douglas-2015-4">Marvel's new 'Ant-Man' trailer looks even better than 'Guardians of the Galaxy'</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/louis-ck-career-biography-2015-5The unlikely story of Louis C.K.'s rise to famehttp://www.businessinsider.com/louis-ck-career-biography-2015-5
Sat, 30 May 2015 11:04:00 -0400Sean Fitz-Gerald
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5568c7b4eab8eab164a0e1b2-1200-858/louis%20ck%202-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Louis CK ">Over the last few years, Louis C.K. has become comedy royalty, due in large part to his much-adored FX series </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Louie</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, which closed out its fifth season this week. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">C.K., 47, has won two Golden Globes and multiple Emmys; become the first comedian to sell out Madison Square Garden four times in the same month; enjoyed unprecedented creative freedom; and changed the game in terms of how comics promote their work, cutting out the middlemen and distributing many of his specials and independently funded projects on his </span><a href="https://buy.louisck.net/" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">website</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> for as little as $5. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">But, as is the case with most in the comedy biz, C.K.'s ascent was the result of many a DIY risk and gamble. He's been on the scene for nearly three decades, in places you might not have suspected. Below, we document the gradual rise of Louis C.K.</span></p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5568c72ceab8eaae53a0e1b6-1200-858/louis%20ck-4.jpg" border="0" alt="Louis CK"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Louis Székely (phonetically close to C.K. — he would </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/17/louis-ck-szekely-real-stage-names_n_1679837.html" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">change his last name</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> in grade school so it would be easier for people to pronounce) was born in Washington, D.C., in 1967, but moved to Mexico City at age 1 to be with his father's side of the family. He wouldn't move back to the U.S. until he was 7 years old, at which point he and his parents settled down on the East Coast. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"I grew up in Boston and didn't get the accent, and one of the reasons is that I started in Spanish. I was a little kid, so all I had to do was completely reject my Spanish and my Mexican past, which is a whole lot easier because I'm white with red hair," he </span><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/louis-c-k-im-an-accidental-white-person-20130411" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">told</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Rolling Stone</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> in 2013. "I had the help of a whole nation of people just accepting that I'm white." Here, he discusses his misconceived roots:</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">C.K. </span><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20110425233808/http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/item_0i3ylcj0GXPO0SqsmNybUM;jsessionid=4FAF908BF5985A7D8D7DBB9802A22A40" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">grew</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> up in Newton, Massachusetts — "on the wrong side of the tracks" — in a three-story double-decker. The comic </span><a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/how-louis-c-k-became-the-darkest-funniest-comedian-in-america-20111212?page=2" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">told</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Rolling Stone</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> in 2011 that he was a depressive kid who turned to drugs fairly early. "Eighth and ninth grade were two solid years of dropping acid, snorting coke when somebody had it, Quaaludes, an alarming amount of pot, mescaline, drinking," he said. "By the time I got to high school, I was a recovered drug addict."</span></p>
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<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Throughout this period, money was a concern because C.K.'s dad moved out shortly after his 10th birthday. C.K. worked as an auto mechanic to make some cash for himself. He would balance odd jobs with listening to Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, and George Carlin records, before mustering the courage to hit comedy clubs. Wanting to emulate Woody Allen's early career, C.K. filmed his first short, "Trash Day" (unfortunately unavailable online), at age 17. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Although he impressed recruiters at NYU's film school, he never filled out his application and instead dove right into the Boston comedy scene to pursue his dream. Here's a 20-year-old C.K. performing on his home turf:</span></p>
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<p><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">1989–1993</strong></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">After drawing attention in Beantown, C.K. moved to New York. He performed stand-up sets, wrote for late-night, and produced more shorts to make a name for himself. He appeared in many of the city's televised comedy specials, including </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Caroline's Comedy Hour</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> and MTV's </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Half Hour Comedy Hour</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">:</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span>Here's another clip of a young C.K., about five years into his career as a stand-up, on Paul Provenza's </span><em>Comics Only</em><span>. It's clear he was working on finding his voice (and learning that impressions weren't his strong suit), but his soon-to-be trademark for comedy rooted in discomfort and awkward situations was flourishing:</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span>During this period, C.K. continued to tell stories through film. C.K. </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL02HdUt_lM" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">said</a><span> he always liked making short films because they didn't have the weight and restrictions of features. He also had complete creative control, which he would try to retain with HBO's </span><em>Lucky Louie,</em><span> but wouldn't get to fully embrace until FX's </span><em>Louie</em><span>. One of his first self-produced projects was called "Ice Cream":</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"> <span>As the '90s dragged on, C.K. would amass a collection (which </span><a href="http://splitsider.com/2012/03/the-short-films-of-louis-c-k/" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">Splitsider</a> <span>has chronicled in detail) of these shorts, including this one with a very young Amy Poehler and J.B. Smoove:</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(He'd later return to the format in the mid-2000s, with scathing viral videos like 2007's "</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VABSoHYQr6k" data-track="Body Text Link: External">Louis C.K. Learns About the Catholic Church</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">." He was diligent about cataloging his creations online for easy public access.)</span></p>
<p><span>But the early '90s also marked one of C.K.'s first big collapses. As he </span><a href="http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/201405/louis-ck-cover-story-may-2014?currentPage=3" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">recounted</a><span> to </span><em>GQ </em><span>in 2014:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span>"… [h]e was gigging ten times a night, fifty bucks a pop, motorcycling up and down Manhattan from club to club. He remembers parking his bike in the Village one night and daring to think, I have the greatest life in the world. The next night, he was racing up Second Avenue at 70 mph and nailed a car running a red light. His whole body was a bruise. In the morning, he noticed for the first time that he was balding. Even then, the New York comedy scene had begun to implode. Big venues like the Improv and Catch a Rising Star folded; others cut back on their open-mike nights. Louis, who'd bought a BMW with an AmEx card, struggled, couldn't pay his rent, and went broke."</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span>To combat this tailspin, C.K. auditioned for </span><em>Saturday Night Live</em><span> during the show's stand-up boom. He recalled the experience for Matt Belknap in 2006 (</span><a href="http://splitsider.com/2012/10/c-k-and-snl-louies-19-year-backstory-with-the-nbc-sketch-show/" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">via</a><span> Splitsider):</span></span></span></p>
<p class="pullquote" style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>"I was going broke, and </span><em>SNL</em><span> was like the last chance, the last boat leaving, so Dave Attell, Laura Kightlinger, Sarah Silverman, Jay Mohr and me and a bunch of other people all auditioned. I remember that I was put first on the show, and the SNL people hadn’t shown up, and the guy that ran Catch, Louis Faranda, was trying to put me on anyway. He was like, "Go on." "But they’re not gonna see me." He said, "I don’t care." It was cruel as shit. And … Jon Stewart was there and he offered to go on and stall for me, which he did. But finally I had to go on, and as I went on stage they all filed in, and I remember that David Spade was with them, and he had seen me, so he made them sit down, [head writer] Jim Downey and them, and said, "Watch this guy," which I’m forever indebted to him for even though I didn’t get on </span><em>SNL</em><span>. It made a difference, because I went on and I had a really solid, good set, and then over the following week, Laura Kightlinger got cast, Dave Attell, Sarah, Jay, everybody but me [got cast], like everybody that was on that [showcase] but me."</span></p>
<p class="pullquote"><strong><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/55259643eab8ea9a0b36e710-1200-632/screen%20shot%202015-04-08%20at%204.56.46%20pm.png" border="0" alt="Louis CK SNL">1993–1996</strong></p>
<p><span><span>While the </span><em>SNL</em><span> audition didn't pan out, C.K. would get his first taste of mainstream success because of it: </span><em>SNL</em><span>'s head writer, Jim Downey, referred C.K. to Robert Smigel, who was helping Conan O'Brien ramp up his late-night talk-show debut. C.K. found consistent work writing for television and appearing in sketches, including on O'Brien's </span><em>Late Night </em><span>and David Letterman's </span><em>Late Show</em><span>. Here he is in 1993 on </span><em>Late Night</em><span>:</span></span></p>
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<div><span>As a 25-year-old working with O'Brien, late-night TV would prove to be a vital arena for C.K. to cut his teeth, learn the politics of a writers' room, and experiment with his darker sense of humor:</span></div>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">His dirtiest joke involved a pearl necklace:</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">C.K. </span><a href="http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/louis-ck-on-late-night-tv-and-the-fun-of-fallon-1201253507/" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">told</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Variety</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> last year that late-night TV was and is appealing because it's "where the national conversation is happening. It’s where we all talk to each other and feel we’re in the stream with the community." After his late-night stints, he went on to become the head writer of </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">The Dana Carvey Show</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> between 1995 and 1996 (he made some </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6KufeXgdo4" data-track="Body Text Link: External">cameos</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, too). It was a short-lived show, but he was able to flex his muscles as an influencer on the comedy scene — enough to keep the likes of Jimmy Fallon from getting on the show:</span></p>
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<p>When <em>The</em> <em>Dana Carvey Show</em> crumbled, Smigel recruited C.K. to write for the animated "<a href="https://screen.yahoo.com/tv-funhouse-x-presidents-osama-000000826.html" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">TV Funhouse</a>" vignettes that existed within <em>SNL</em>. C.K. also used his experience to move on to bigger, behind-the-scenes roles on other TV shows (more on that below).</p>
<p><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">1996–2001</strong></p>
<p>In 1996, C.K. filmed his first HBO <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r5P4TYJDoo" data-track="Body Text Link: External">comedy half-hour</a>, a huge coup for the comedian, as it marked the beginning of his ability to convince networks to buy content that was <em>all him</em>. He also helmed the writers' room over at <em>The Chris Rock Show</em>. Below is the show's first-ever appearance of <a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Louis-C-K-Candidly-Explains-How-Pootie-Tang-Almost-Killed-His-Career-28081.html" data-track="Body Text Link: External">the Pootie character</a>, which would be an important, albeit stigmatic, pockmark on his résumé:</p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span>C.K. took a recurring role on Comedy Central's </span><em>Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist</em><span>, which essentially gave him a platform to develop more of his conversational stand-up bits for a cult fandom — just animated in Squigglevision:</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span>During this period, C.K. also wrote and directed one of his first feature-length films, </span><em><a href="https://buy.louisck.net/purchase/tomorrow-night" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">Tomorrow Night</a></em><span>, which featured Rick Shapiro, Steve Carell, J.B. Smoove, Wanda Sykes, and O'Brien, among others. It aired at Sundance but ultimately went nowhere:</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">2001–2006</strong></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><span>C.K. wanted to make more feature-length movies like </span><em>Night</em><span>, so he wrote and directed </span><em>Pootie Tang</em><span> with Chris Rock. Samuel Goldwyn's grandson, who was overseeing the project for the studio, tore into C.K., calling the film "unreleasable" and taking him off the project just before the editing process. You can read more about it via </span><em>GQ</em><span> </span><a href="http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/201405/louis-ck-cover-story-may-2014?currentPage=3" data-track="Body Text Link: External">here</a><span>, and watch C.K. telling Howard Stern how horrendously wonderful the whole experience was here:</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span>And in case you've forgotten about </span><em>Pootie Tang</em><span>, here's a trailer to jog your memory:</span></p>
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<p>The studio hated the film, as did viewers (only later did it develop a cult fandom). C.K. tried to move onto other projects, helping write <em>Down to Earth</em> (another Rock movie), shifting over to <em>Cedric the Entertainer Presents</em>, <a href="http://splitsider.com/2012/10/c-k-and-snl-louies-19-year-backstory-with-the-nbc-sketch-show/" data-track="Body Text Link: External">penning sketches</a> for <em>SNL</em>, returning to his own shorts, and voicing Andrew Small in the <a href="http://homemovies.toonzone.net/Dad.html" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">cult classic 'toon series <em>Home Movies</em></a>.</p>
<p>The <em>Pootie Tang</em> experience, however, was so hellish it signified C.K.'s second major collapse. "It never stopped getting worse. I remember thinking, <em>This is too much for me to handle</em>. I wanted to give up," he <a href="http://www.gq.com/entertainment/celebrities/201405/louis-ck-cover-story-may-2014?currentPage=3" data-track="Body Text Link: External">told</a> <em>GQ</em>. The lowest point in this descent was <em>Lucky Louie</em>, C.K.'s impish take on <em>The Honeymooners</em> that was canceled after a dozen episodes on HBO even though it was met warmly by critics. There were, however, a couple silver linings: It served as one of the first big collaborations between C.K. and Pamela Adlon, who would come back to work with him on <em>Louie</em> a few years later, and the show reaffirmed C.K.'s determination to retain his comedic vision without comprising originality:</p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span>Despite the dark content of his comedy, C.K. became equally known for the slap-in-the-face optimism and humanism that underlies some of his best outward-facing comedy, seen clearly here in his everything's-amazing-and-nobody's-happy bit (</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjNgNDZzH5o" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">here's him explaining</a><span> the bit, as well as his writing process, for </span><em>Time</em><span> in 2009):</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span>He told </span><em>GQ</em><span> that his experiences in the '90s, combined with </span><em>Pootie Tang </em><span>and </span><em>Lucky Louie</em><span>, built up his thick skin and perseverance, which led him to create his 70 percent rule for decision-making (i.e., his motivation for trying again and again in a brutal industry):</span></p>
<p class="embed-spacer" style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>"These situations where I can't make a choice because I'm too busy trying to envision the perfect one — that false perfectionism traps you in this painful ambivalence: If I do this, then that other thing I could have done becomes attractive. But if I go and choose the other one, the same thing happens again. It's part of our consumer culture. People do this trying to get a DVD player or a service provider, but it also bleeds into big decisions. So my rule is that if you have someone or something that gets 70 percent approval, you just do it. 'Cause here's what happens. The fact that other options go away immediately brings your choice to 80. Because the pain of deciding is over. And … when you get to 80 percent, you work. You apply your knowledge, and that gets you to 85 percent! And the thing itself, especially if it's a human being, will always reveal itself — 100 percent of the time! — to be more than you thought. And that will get you to 90 percent. After that, you're stuck at 90, but who the fuck do you think you are, a god? You got to 90 percent? It's incredible!"</span></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">2</span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">006–2012</strong></p>
<p>The mid-2000s became the era of specials for C.K., including <em>Shameless </em>(2007), <em>Chewed Up</em> (2008), <em>Hilarious</em> (2010), <em>Live at the Beacon Theater </em>(2011), and <em>Word: Live at Carnegie Hall</em> (2012).</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5568ca56eab8ea156ba0e1b6-1200-600/louis-ck-standup-2.png" border="0" alt="Louis CK Standup"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">By the tail end of this period, C.K. had found his voice and genuinely established himself as one of the contemporary titans of comedy. In 2011, Rock called him </span><a href="http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/interviews/a9392/chris-rock-interview-0311/#ixzz1E9FHzYPb" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">the best right now</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In 2012, </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">The</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">New Yorker</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">'s Emily Nussbaum declared him the </span><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/07/09/black-and-blue-3" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">best stand-up</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> comedian in the country. He began gracing the covers of </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Rolling Stone, GQ</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, and </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Entertainment Weekly</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, among other magazines, oftentimes with cutlines that read something along the lines of, "America's best ..." or "funniest …" </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Also during this time, he established himself as the reigning champion of creative cussing (warning: explicit):</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span>C.K. began making more frequent appearances on friends' movies and shows, including </span><em>Role Models</em><span> (2008), Ricky Gervais's </span><em>The Invention of Lying</em><span> (2009), and </span><em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HDKaTJXShA" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">Parks &amp; Rec</a></em><span>:</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span>After the failure of </span><em>Lucky Louie</em><span>, C.K. was hesitant to embark on another TV deal. But after more sold-out shows, John Landgraf, the president of FX, </span><a href="http://nymag.com/arts/tv/upfronts/2011/louis-ck-2011-5/index2.html" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: Internal: krang">offered him $250,000</a><span> to make a series about his life. Thus, </span><em>Louie</em><span> was born (again). To promote his new show, which many called an anti-sitcom, C.K. released this NSFW short promo in 2010:</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p>
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<p><em>Louie</em> became a critical darling and developed a small but loyal fandom quickly. The show and its star were lauded for a unique mix of self-flagellating discomfort, honest social commentary, and dark humor.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5568c95beab8ea846ba0e1b2-1200-800/louis%20ck%20louie.jpg" border="0" alt="Louis CK Louie"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In a </span><a href="http://www.vulture.com/2012/08/why-is-louie-such-a-remarkable-tv-show.html" data-track="Body Text Link: Internal: vulture">2012 piece</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">New York</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">'s Matt Zoller Seitz called the show's form "revolutionary."</span></p>
<p>Ricky Gervais <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcmMG9iMcts" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">called</a> C.K. a true artist and added that his new show was the most interesting and most important comedy of the year:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>"Louis C.K. is the funniest, bravest, and most honest stand-up comic in the world at the moment. He mixes a classic observational style with a smart, modern edge and deals with the most taboo subjects, while remaining the likable underdog that carries the weight of an uncaring world on his shoulders. He’s angry and right — a formidable comedy partnership."</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>2012–2015</strong><br><span>Aside from </span><em>Louie</em><span>, the self-taught multihyphenate made room in his busy schedule to do </span><em><a href="http://www.hbo.com/comedy/louis-c-k-oh-my-god#/" data-track="Body Text Link: External">Louis C.K.: Oh My God</a></em><span> (2013), </span><em>American Hustle</em><span> (2013), Jerry Seinfeld's </span><em><a href="http://gawker.com/louis-c-k-tells-jerry-seinfeld-all-about-that-infamous-1493209466" data-track="Body Text Link: External">Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee</a></em><span> (2014), and </span><em>Louis C.K.: Live at the Comedy Store</em><span> (2015):</span></span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span>He also found time to host </span><em>SNL</em><span> a few times, </span><a href="http://www.vulture.com/2015/05/saturday-night-live-recap-louis-ck.html" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: Internal: vulture">most recently for the show's 40th-season finale</a><span>.</span></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In an essay published in </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/louis-cks-crabby-epic-love-786746" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">THR</a></em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, C.K. reflected on his path to New York, comedic success, and coming to terms with hosting </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">SNL </em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">after being shafted.</span></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5568cad2eab8eaa871a0e1b6-1200-632/louis-ck-snl-4.png" border="0" alt="Louis CK SNL" style="color: #000000;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"I'm so glad I didn't get cast on </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">SNL</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. I'm way better off because I host it now. That's a million times cooler and more fun because to be a cast member there or a featured player or writer is a perilous, difficult, grueling office job — like the worst kind of office job," he wrote. "As a host, you get to just sit next to him and watch him do a thing that very few people do anymore. Spending a week there is one of my favorite things I get to do." </span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span>At the moment, directing, editing, and starring in </span><em>Louie</em><span> continues to be C.K.'s chief creative responsibility (well, that and being the father of two daughters, frequently the subjects of his self-reflective work). Season five premiered earlier this spring on FX (read our recaps </span><a href="http://www.vulture.com/tv/louie/" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: Internal: vulture">here</a><span>):</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span>And although this year's dose of </span><em>Louie</em><span> is running out, fingers crossed that he'll be back for a sixth season. In the meantime, you'll be able to check him out as </span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=5&amp;ved=0CCsQFjAE&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vulture.com%2F2015%2F04%2Fanimated-louis-ck-animal-movie-gets-a-name.html&amp;ei=jullVfrkOtHOsQSP1oGIBg&amp;usg=AFQjCNFyGGusD6UwxB_MyT82AuUFz1-g0w&amp;sig2=CVgm5BeE2VE2VtzWcKmXMA&amp;bvm=bv.93990622,d.aWw" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">an animal</a><span> or </span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=7&amp;ved=0CC8QFjAG&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vulture.com%2F2015%2F05%2Flouis-ck-will-write-direct-star-in-im-a-cop.html&amp;ei=qOllVaqDJ5exyATAiYLwAw&amp;usg=AFQjCNG40eJvKnjRLg7qQrdJKwozJXwC5Q&amp;sig2=uIvpyUhddMzcAw6dBpC29w&amp;bvm=bv.93990622,d.aWw" target="_blank" data-track="Body Text Link: External">a cop</a><span> — the latter of which will probably be something like this:</span></p>
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</div><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/louis-ck-will-write-direct-and-star-in-his-own-movie-2015-5" >Louis C.K. will write, direct, and star in his own movie</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/louis-ck-career-biography-2015-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/between-two-ferns-brad-pitt-zach-galifianakis-014-10">Here's The Hilarious 'Between Two Ferns' Video With Brad Pitt And Louis C.K.</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/maya-rudolph-nailed-her-beyonc-impression-while-giving-tulanes-graduation-speech-2015-5Maya Rudolph nailed her Beyoncé impression at Tulane's graduationhttp://www.businessinsider.com/maya-rudolph-nailed-her-beyonc-impression-while-giving-tulanes-graduation-speech-2015-5
Tue, 19 May 2015 15:42:00 -0400Abby Jackson
<p>Maya Rudolph gave the graduation speech for the Tulane class of 2015 on Saturday, and ended the speech with a phenomenal rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner."</p>
<p>Rudolph's hilarious speech culminated with an improvised version of the "National Anthem," where she even mixed in portions of Beyoncé classics.</p>
<p>Take a look here to see her attempt at the National Anthem:</p>
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<p>Rudolph has a personal connection to Tulane and paid homage to her father, who was a Tulane class of 1968 graduate. She also gave a nod to her cousin, Sabrina, who's in the 2015 graduating class. </p>
<p><span>While the "Saturday Night Live" comedian's </span>entire speech was characteristically funny, she also took the time to offer some heartfelt advice which was to, "S<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">ay yes, and create your own destiny," as she had done many years ago when she told her dad her dream was to be on "SNL."</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">You can listen to her entire speech here:</span></p>
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<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/maya-rudolph-nailed-her-beyonc-impression-while-giving-tulanes-graduation-speech-2015-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/adrian-college-guarantees-jobs-2014-12">This College In Michigan Will Pay Off The Loans Of Graduates Who Can't Find A Job</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-copied-draw-muhammad-sketch-2015-5‘SNL’ got tons of praise for a sketch this weekend — but it’s almost identical to a Canadian comedy bit from Januaryhttp://www.businessinsider.com/snl-copied-draw-muhammad-sketch-2015-5
Mon, 11 May 2015 15:41:00 -0400Aly Weisman
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5550fc9769bedd5f3902b694-1911-1002/screen%20shot%202015-05-11%20at%202.41.29%20pm.png" border="0" alt="draw muhammad snl"></p><p>"Saturday Night Live" aired a sketch this weekend that initially received tons of praise.</p>
<p>Titled "Draw Muhammad," the bit was <span>a riff on "Pictionary" or "Win, Lose or Draw," in which contestants must sketch a word or phrase.</span></p>
<p><span>In the "SNL" sketch, Bobby Moynihan's character receives the "Trend Setters" category and is given the phrase, "The Prophet Muhammad."</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">After <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/there-has-been-a-shooting-at-a-muhammad-cartoon-drawing-contest-in-texas-2015-5" target="_blank">two gunmen<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> op</span>ened fire</a> on an anti-Muslim "Draw Muhammad" cartoon contest <span>art show in Texas last week, Moynihan's character is especially reluctant to draw the controversial figure.</span><br></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5550fc5a6bb3f70e738539ce/draw%20muhammad%20gif%202.gif" border="0" alt="Draw Muhammad GIF "><br></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">After Moynihan's character says "I can't draw it," Reese Witherspoon, who hosted this weekend's show and played Moynihan's wife, guesses the correct answer </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">—</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> "The Prophet Muhammad." The couple walk away with a $1 million prize.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>The bit was praised on social media.</span></span></p>
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SNL "grew a pair" last night. 'Draw the Prophet Muhammad' — Wow and Bravo! <a href="http://t.co/d9UNiGH9xG">http://t.co/d9UNiGH9xG</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/theblaze">@theblaze</a> </p>— Mike Opelka (@stuntbrain) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/597384362997522432">May 10, 2015</a>
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SNL Takes On the Fear of Drawing Muhammad This is well worth the 3 minute watch! GREAT job <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SNL?src=hash">#SNL</a><a href="http://t.co/pv1SeOqprS">http://t.co/pv1SeOqprS</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/Mediaite">@mediaite</a> </p>— Micha♥ (@FreedomTexasMom) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/597254298418970624">May 10, 2015</a>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/05/10/saturday_night_live_brilliantly_tackles_fear_of_drawing_muhammad/" target="_blank">Salon wrote</a> that the show "brilliantly tackled the fear of drawing Muhammad." <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Comedian and former "SNL" staffer </span><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/10/snl-doesn-t-draw-the-line-at-prophet-muhammad.html" target="_hplink">Dean Obeidallah called the bit</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> "a great comedy sketch that raises an important issue about freedom for expression and the fear some Americans have about drawing the Prophet Mohammed."</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><br></span></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">But by Monday, the Internet was quick to call out SNL's "Draw Muhammad" sketch <span>—</span> a bit that originated on Canadian comedy show, <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/22minutes/" target="_blank">"This Hour Has 22 Minutes."</a><span><br></span></span></p>
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I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but I do believe the Canadian version of this sketch to be funnier. <a href="http://t.co/kAQzWPWrOr">http://t.co/kAQzWPWrOr</a> </p>— Stephen Spinola (@Mr_McStevie) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/597798758533955584">May 11, 2015</a>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The Canadian sketch, which first aired in January, has an identical premise to the "SNL" bit. </span></p>
<p><span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Both contestants have $1 million at stake, both refuse to draw Muhammad, and then both wives guess the correct answer after their husbands refuse to draw Muhammad.</span></p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5550fc5beab8ea596a915edf/draw%20muhammad%20gif%201.gif" border="0" alt="Draw Muhammad GIF "><br><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"22 Minutes" comedian Shaun </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Majumder</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, who is featured in the original sketch, tweeted about the copy cat bit.</span></p>
<p>"Wow if only we could steal some of their budget," <a href="https://twitter.com/shaunmajumder/status/597631208651010048">tweeted</a> the 43-year-old comedian, with the hashtag "GreatMindsThinkAlike."</p>
<p>"I think both pieces are important satirical comedy with two different audiences," <a href="https://twitter.com/shaunmajumder/status/597636734449364992">he continued</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Watch the original "Draw Muhammad" sketch below:</strong></p>
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<p><strong>Now watch this weekend's "Saturday Night Live" version and judge for yourself:</strong></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This isn't the first time "Saturday Night Live" has been accused of plagiarism. </span></p>
<p class="embed-spacer">In October, NBC's long-running comedy show <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-copies-tina-turner-sketch-from-groundlings-2014-10" target="_blank">blatantly took a bit from The Groundlings</a> <span>comedy troupe in which female cast members impersonate Tina Turner <span>on a riverboat casino.</span></span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-copies-tina-turner-sketch-from-groundlings-2014-10#ixzz3ZrIyCdje" >The Groundlings Allege 'SNL' Stole Their Tina Turner Sketch — Here's The Proof</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-copied-draw-muhammad-sketch-2015-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/shark-tank-kevin-oleary-mean-business-entrepreneur-2015-5">Why investor Kevin O'Leary thinks it's good to be mean on 'Shark Tank'</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/scarlett-johansson-mocks-marvel-on-snl-black-widow-2015-5Scarlett Johansson perfectly mocks Marvel sexism in 'SNL' parody rom-com movie trailerhttp://www.businessinsider.com/scarlett-johansson-mocks-marvel-on-snl-black-widow-2015-5
Mon, 04 May 2015 10:41:00 -0400Aly Weisman
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/55477e52ecad04dc64baa38f-1200-600/scarlett-johansson-snl.png" border="0" alt="Scarlett Johansson SNL"></p><p>Scarlett Johansson hosted "Saturday Night Live" this weekend to coincide with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/avengers-age-of-ultron-opening-weekend-2015-5" target="_blank">the release of her new movie</a>, <span>"Avengers: Age of Ultron."<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/avengers-age-of-ultron-opening-weekend-2015-5" target="_blank"></a></span></p>
<p>Johansson, who plays "Black Widow" in the film, took the opportunity to take a few jabs at Marvel, which <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/mark-ruffalo-black-widow_n_7172090.html" target="_blank">recently came under fire</a> for its allegedly <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/28/the-avengers-black-widow-problem-how-marvel-slut-shamed-their-most-badass-superheroine.html" target="_hplink">sexist treatment</a> of the female character.</p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/554781216bb3f7df5e33ba2c-1200-600/black-widow-the-avengers-age-of-ultron-scarlett-johansson-6.jpg" border="0" alt="black widow the avengers age of ultron scarlett johansson"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Despite Johansson appearing in four installments of the hit franchise, </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">her female superhero character is seriously underrepresented with fan merchandise. Black Widow’s male Marvel co-stars had at least three times as much merch offered in stores, as <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/mark-ruffalo-black-widow_n_7172090.html" target="_blank">The Huffington Post</a> broke down in detail.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Even </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Mark Ruffalo</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, who plays the Hulk in "Avengers: Age of Ultron," has called out Marvel for there not being more Black Widow toys.<br></span></p>
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.<a href="https://twitter.com/Marvel">@Marvel</a> we need more <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackWidow?src=hash">#BlackWidow</a> merchandise for my daughters and nieces. Pretty please. </p>— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/593222325325209601">April 29, 2015</a>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Saturday Night Live" addressed the issue with a mock movie trailer, opened by a narrator explaining: </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Does Marvel not know how to make a girl's superhero movie? Chill. Marvel gets women."</span></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55478311ecad047001baa38f-1200-462/screen%20shot%202015-05-04%20at%2010.28.20%20am.png" border="0" alt="black widow snl"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The trailer then previews a romantic comedy that gives Black Widow </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">a "huge apartment, great friends, and an internship at </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Fashion Weekly </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">magazine."</span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/554784e56da8112b616ee126-1920-815/screen%20shot%202015-05-04%20at%2010.39.35%20am.png" border="0" alt="scarlett johansson avengers superheroes black widow snl">"The only thing missing in Black Widow's life, was love," says the trailer's narrator. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">With that, Black Widow runs into a robot named Ultron.</span></p>
<p><span><span><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/55477ea169bedd0c08fecf5c-1918-820/screen%20shot%202015-05-04%20at%2010.06.34%20am.png" border="0" alt="Scarlett Johansson SNL robot">"</span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I don't really have time to date guys now," she tells her new suitor.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"What about robots?" he jokes.</span><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55477ea1eab8eacb5169139b-1920-814/screen%20shot%202015-05-04%20at%2010.06.20%20am.png" border="0" alt="Scarlett Johansson SNL robot" style="line-height: 1.5em; color: #000000;">"SNL" calls it "the story of a superhero and her super romance."</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/554782a26bb3f7be6133ba2d-1916-814/screen%20shot%202015-05-04%20at%2010.26.23%20am.png" border="0" alt="Scarlett Johansson SNL human robot romance"><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/554782a26da8118d526ee12a-1918-815/screen%20shot%202015-05-04%20at%2010.26.35%20am.png" border="0" alt="Scarlett Johansson SNL human robot romance"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">But as you may imagine, not everything goes as planned.</span></p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/554782796da811895b6ee127-1200-522/screen%20shot%202015-05-04%20at%2010.27.53%20am.png" border="0" alt="Scarlett Johansson sad crying">Until a new suitor enters the picture.</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55478311eab8ea037069139f-1916-811/screen%20shot%202015-05-04%20at%2010.31.43%20am.png" border="0" alt="hulk ice cream snl"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It's a pretty-spot on interpretation of a romantic comedy, and a seeming <a href="http://screenrant.com/marvel-female-superhero-movies-black-widow-ms-marvel/" target="_blank">dig at Marvel CEO Kevin Feige for failing</a> to give Johansson's Black Widow character her own movie.</span></p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5547831169beddbb1afecf5f-1914-690/screen%20shot%202015-05-04%20at%2010.29.13%20am.png" border="0" alt="marvel SNL"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Watch SNL's full mock trailer below:</span></p>
<p><iframe width="620" height="349" frameborder="0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j_5KgpN38hM"></iframe><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Avengers: Age of Ultron" debuted to a huge $187.7 million at theaters opening weekend, giving it the </span><a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/">second largest weekend ever at the box office</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">.</span></p>
<p><span><span>Despite the huge number, that's far lower than analyst expectations, which projected the film to open at anywhere from </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/avengers-age-of-ultron-box-office-prediction-2015-4">$210 million - $230 million</a><span>.</span><br></span></p>
<p><span><span><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5547796aecad04463dbaa392-1200-522/screen%20shot%202015-05-04%20at%209.49.48%20am.png" border="0" alt="Scarlett Johansson"><br></span></span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/avengers-age-of-ultron-opening-weekend-2015-5#ixzz3ZB4mNIMD" >'Avengers: Age Of Ultron' had a huge $187 million weekend — but it didn't beat the all-time opening record</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scarlett-johansson-mocks-marvel-on-snl-black-widow-2015-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-avengers-age-of-ultron-trailer-marvel-disney-movies-2015-3">Disney just dropped another 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' trailer — and it's the best one yet</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/snls-cecily-strong-delivered-some-brutal-zingers-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner-2015-4SNL's Cecily Strong delivered some brutal zingers at the White House Correspondents' Dinnerhttp://www.businessinsider.com/snls-cecily-strong-delivered-some-brutal-zingers-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner-2015-4
Sun, 26 Apr 2015 03:43:00 -0400Tanya Basu
<p>Comedian Cecily Strong from NBC's "Saturday Night Live" fired freely around the audience at the White House Correspondents' dinner Saturday night. Taking a jab at some media coverage of women politicians, she had the audience repeat after her, "I solemnly swear not to talk about Hillary's appearance, because that is not journalism."</p>
<p>Strong also took aim at the Secret Service that protects Obama, which has seen a slew of embarrassing recent bungles. Referring to a series of deaths of black men at the hands of law enforcement that have provoked protests around the country, she said, "They're the only law enforcement agency that will get in trouble if a black man gets shot."</p>
<p>Watch Cecily Strong's full remarks here:</p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/frank-giustras-amazing-comment-about-bill-clinton-2015-4#ixzz3YOm35VoP" >The billionaire linked to the 'Clinton Cash' scandals once said something amazing about doing business with Bill Clinton</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snls-cecily-strong-delivered-some-brutal-zingers-at-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner-2015-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/barack-obama-body-man-reggie-love-2015-2">Here's what it takes to be President Obama's right-hand man</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/live-from-new-york-snl-documentary-trailer-comedy-2015-4A behind-the-scenes look at Saturday Night Live — the comedy institution created by a 'strange Canadian’http://www.businessinsider.com/live-from-new-york-snl-documentary-trailer-comedy-2015-4
Wed, 15 Apr 2015 14:37:00 -0400Devan Joseph
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<p><span></span><span class="italic">"<a href="http://www.livefromnewyorkmovie.com/#/home/">Live From New York!</a>"</span><span> explores the show's early years and follows its evolution from a cult comedy show into a cultural phenomenon. Archival footage is paired with stolen moments and exclusive commentary from "SNL" legends, journalists, hosts, and crew members influenced by the comedy giant.</span></p>
<p><em>Video courtesy of BehindTheLine</em></p>
<p><strong>Follow BI Video:</strong> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsider.Video">On Facebook</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-from-new-york-snl-documentary-trailer-comedy-2015-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-hilariously-skewered-hillary-clintons-presidential-announcement-2015-4'SNL' hilariously skewered Hillary Clinton's presidential announcementhttp://www.businessinsider.com/snl-hilariously-skewered-hillary-clintons-presidential-announcement-2015-4
Sun, 12 Apr 2015 19:45:00 -0400Harrison Jacobs
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/552b15b86bb3f79b3547aeb8-1028-771/hillary-clinton-snl-2.png" border="0" alt="hillary clinton snl "></p><p>On Sunday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-2016-presidential-campaign-2015-4">officially launched her presidential campaign in a video posted on her new campaign website</a>.</p>
<p>The video was hardly a surprise after Business Insider's Hunter Walker <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-will-announce-her-campaign-this-weekend-2015-4">broke the story on Thursday that Clinton would be officially announcing her campaign this Sunday via social media</a>. </p>
<p><span>With the news expected, Saturday Night Live decided to open this week's show with a skit depicting the behind-the-scenes of Clinton's as-yet-unreleased video announcement.</span></p>
<p><span>Comedian Kate McKinnon portrayed Clinton in a skit that poked fun at the former Secretary's approachability and many people's assumption that she faces an easy road to the Democratic nomination.</span></p>
<p>At the beginning of the sketch, Hillary Clinton's assistant, played by <span>Vanessa Bayer</span>, tells Clinton to "look natural" as she makes the video via a cell phone camera.</p>
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<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">McKinnon-as-Clinton's response:</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Citizens, you will elect me. I will be your leader."</span></p>
<p>The sketch even features a cameo by former 'SNL' regular Darrell Hammond, who was known for his Bill Clinton impersonation while on the show.</p>
<p><span>Check out the full sketch below: </span></p>
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<p><span> </span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-hilariously-skewered-hillary-clintons-presidential-announcement-2015-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/game-of-thrones-stars-real-life-2015-4">Here's what 'Game of Thrones' stars look like in real life</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/saturday-night-live-documentary-trailer-2015-4Here's the trailer for the upcoming 'Saturday Night Live' documentaryhttp://www.businessinsider.com/saturday-night-live-documentary-trailer-2015-4
Thu, 09 Apr 2015 14:33:39 -0400Adam Chitwood
<p><strong><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5526c2426da811f0120c8e99-724-361/tina-fey-amy-poehler-snl-weekend-update-saturday-night-live-6.jpg" border="0" alt="tina fey amy poehler snl weekend update saturday night live"></strong></p>
<p>"Saturday Night Live"<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> is endlessly fascinating.</span></p>
<p>The show is an American institution that’s been on the air for 40 years, and the fact that each episode is created from scratch in the span of a week, and then broadcast live to the entire country is kind of amazing.</p>
<p>It’s uneven, imperfect, and oftentimes disappointing, but you don’t watch "SNL" for consistency. You watch "SNL" to see some of the best comedy performers around trying things that are out there, things that are too ambitious, and sometimes things that are dangerous in the hopes that something magical happens.</p>
<p>Which is why the new documentary "Live from New York!" promises to be an interesting look behind the scenes of one of the most iconic pieces of television ever produced—and it’s still going.</p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5526c26c69beddb9184a0b93-1200-632/saturday-night-live-set-4.png" border="0" alt="Saturday Night Live set"></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The first trailer for director </span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Bao Nguyen</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">’s film is now online, and whereas </span><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">James Franco</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">’s excellent "</span><a href="http://collider.com/tag/saturday-night" target="_blank">Saturday Night</a>"<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> offers an intimate glimpse at how each show is created, </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Live from New York!</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> looks to delve more into the show’s history and past.</span></p>
<p>Check out the first <em>Live from New York!</em> trailer below, which features interviews with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Alec Baldwin, Chris Rock, and many more.</p>
<p>The film premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival next Wednesday.</p>
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</div></div><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/saturday-night-live-scientology-parody-video-2015-4" >'SNL' skewered Scientology in this parody recruitment video </a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/saturday-night-live-documentary-trailer-2015-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jimmy-fallon-lip-sync-battle-spkie-ll-cool-j-2015-3">Jimmy Fallon's new lip sync show looks hilarious</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/saturday-night-live-scientology-parody-video-2015-4'SNL' skewered Scientology in this parody recruitment videohttp://www.businessinsider.com/saturday-night-live-scientology-parody-video-2015-4
Mon, 06 Apr 2015 10:36:00 -0400Aly Weisman
<p>After HBO's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/going-clear-tom-cruise-and-john-travolta-should-leave-scientology-2015-3" target="_blank">explosive Scientology documentary</a> "Going Clear" premiered last weekend, "Saturday Night Live" took the opportunity to poke fun at the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/south-park-what-scientologists-believe-2015-3" target="_blank">controversial religion</a>.</p>
<p>In "Going Clear," director Alex Gibney includes an actual video the church of Scientology made in the '90s to recruit new members. In the music video, titled "We Stand Tall," the religion's top execs can be seen signing lyrics like, <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/l-ron-hubbard-history-sci-fi-writer-to-scientology-founder-2015-3" target="_blank">Take us from clear</a> to eternity, to a future we thought would never be."</span></p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/55228eeb69bedd1540f90bb4/scientology%20video%20gif.gif" border="0" alt="SCIENTOLOGY VIDEO GIF"><br><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"SNL" responded this weekend by making an equally grainy, dated </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">music video for "Neurotology," a Scientology-like group that also sings about "Diametrics," a spoof on <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/l-ron-hubbard-history-sci-fi-writer-to-scientology-founder-2015-3" target="_blank">founder L. Ron Hubbard's "Dianetics."</a></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>The parody video also addresses Scientology's belief that </span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/south-park-what-scientologists-believe-2015-3#ixzz3WXP2Tp1v" target="_blank">world began with aliens</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/going-clear-wife-of-scientologys-miscavige-not-in-hbo-documentary-2015-3" target="_blank">missing church members</a>, and people signing <a href="http://www.amazon.com/My-Billion-Year-Contract-Scientologist/dp/0578039222" target="_blank">billion-year contracts</a> with the church </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">—</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> all actual things in Scientology.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">One lyric from the parody video goes: "Religion and science intertwines, aliens live inside of our minds, billion-year contracts we have signed, it all makes sense to me."</span></p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55228fc6ecad044f5054f8da/scientology%20snl%20gif.gif" border="0" alt="SCIENTOLOGY SNL GIF"><br><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Watch the full "SNL" sketch below:</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer">It's eerily similar to the actual Scientology recruitment video from the 90s, featuring the church's top executives <span>—</span> many of whom <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scientology-calls-hbo-documentary-going-clear-propaganda-2015-3" target="_blank">have since left the religion and spoken out about it</a> in HBO's "Going Clear."</p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/south-park-what-scientologists-believe-2015-3#ixzz3WXP2Tp1v" >A 'South Park' episode from 2005 perfectly explains Scientology's unbelievable theory of how the world began</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>MORE:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tom-cruises-secret-scientology-girlfriend-nazanin-boniadi-2015-3#ixzz3WXOsBHQN" >The crazy story of how Scientology allegedly once groomed a girlfriend for Tom Cruise — and then tore them apart</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/saturday-night-live-scientology-parody-video-2015-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/going-clear-sundance-premiere-scientology-bombshells-2015-1">6 Crazy Things Revealed In HBO's Explosive New Scientology Documentary 'Going Clear'</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-robert-durst-sketch-2003-2015-3Fred Armisen played Robert Durst in this amazing 'Saturday Night Live' sketch from 2003http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-robert-durst-sketch-2003-2015-3
Sun, 22 Mar 2015 17:35:00 -0400Business Insider
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55098e966bb3f76048b3c3fc-1200-600/robert-durst-16.jpg" border="0" alt="robert durst "></p><p>"The Jinx" star Robert Durst's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-lapd-insists-that-the-durst-arrest-was-actually-not-connected-to-hbos-the-jinx-2015-3" target="_blank">recent arrest</a> is just the latest in a series of legal troubles for the 71-year-old real-estate heir accused of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/nyregion/robert-durst-to-face-felony-charges-at-scene-of-arrest.html?_r=0" target="_blank">murdering three people</a>.</p>
<p>In 2003, Durst went on trial for the murder and dismemberment of his Galveston, Texas, neighbor, Morris Black. While many considered the case a slam dunk in finally putting Durst behind bars after the murder of his best friend, Susan Berman, and <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2015/03/robert-durst-murders-wife-susie-berman" target="_blank">disappearance of his wife</a> 21 years prior, Durst's high-powered defense attorney claimed self-defense and he was <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20050403214317/http://www.courttv.com/trials/durst/verdict_ctv.html" target="_blank">acquitted of murder</a>.</p>
<p>Those who had been following the high-profile case went nuts after the verdict, which was covered on every major news outlet.</p>
<p>Even "Saturday Night Live" mocked the shocking verdict.</p>
<p>In the November 13, 2003, episode of "Saturday Night Live," Fred Armisen played Robert Durst ...</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55098c3869bedde552b3c3fa-1200-600/fred-armisen-robert-durst-snl-1.png" border="0" alt="Fred Armisen Robert Durst SNL">... being interviewed by Tony Bennett, played by host Alec Baldwin.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/550993f069bedde06cb3c3fa-1200-600/alec-baldwin-tony-bennett.png" border="0" alt="Alec Baldwin tony bennett"> While video of the sketch is not available online, HBO's "The Jinx" plays a clip from it in episode five.</p>
<p>Following Durst's weekend arrest and everyone's fascination with the case following Sunday's <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/03/the-jinx-finale-a-voyeuristic-thrill-ride/387901/" target="_blank">explosive "The Jinx" finale</a>, the sketch is now more relevant than ever.</p>
<p><strong>Read the funny <a href="http://snltranscripts.jt.org/03/03ftony.phtml" target="_blank">transcript</a> below:</strong></p>
<p><strong>Tony Bennett/Alec Baldwin:</strong> I guess you're right. I'm glad you're here anyway. I'd like to bring out my first guest. He's a millionaire who chopped up his neighbor in their apartment complex. Some people seem to have a beef with that. He just won the big court case, so I bet he's got some pep in his step. Please welcome Robert Durst. [Creepy white-haired dude comes in, sits.] Thank you for coming, Robert. You look great. Hey, that's a real top-notch sport coat. James Garner — I mean, eat your heart out!</p>
<p><strong>Robert Durst/Fred Armisen:</strong> Oh why thank you!<br><br><strong>So how's it going? </strong><br><br>Well, better now. I was a little scared there for a while.<br><br><strong>Now, uh, you chopped up your neighbor! Tell us about that.</strong><br><br>Well, he raged at me. And as I was defending myself, I fell and accidentally ... chopped him up.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55098bad69bedd4d53b3c3fa/robert durst snl gif.gif" border="0" alt="Robert Durst SNL GIF"><br><strong>Man, that's outta sight. Now, I'm a pretty laid-back kind of guy. But I've had my own gripes with my neighbors over the years. You know, one summer I lived next door to Richie Sambora at Big Bear Lake. And this dude had a tropical bird the size of Chita Rivera that just wouldn't stop squawking.</strong><br><br>Oh, that would wear me out.<br><br><strong>You telling me, Robert. Now, what's the scoop on this first wife of yours that went missing? Did you chop her up, too?</strong><br><br>I had absolutely nothing to do with that ... <br><br><strong>Hey, Robert. hold that thought on the chopping-up-your-missing-wife business. I gotta mention one of our sponsors. [Holds up a maxi-pad package.] <em>Stayfree Super Maxi Pads with four-wall protection.</em> Robert, do you mind? [Robert holds the maxi-pads.] </strong></p>
<p><strong>In my book, all ladies should look like Angie Dickinson. That's why it's a shame when their monthlies keep them from wearing cream-colored pantsuits. You know, I once made love to Angie Dickinson for seven hours! Then a security guard came in and said, "Mr. Bennett, Madame Tussauds is closing."[Throws maxi pads away.] </strong></p>
<p><strong>Anyway, we're back with Robert Durst. Now, they also say that you're something of a cross-dresser.</strong><br><br>Well, you know, on occasion. I have dressed in women's clothing ... accidentally, yes.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/55098cec69bedd4653b3c3fd-1051-525/the-jinx-robert-durst.png" border="0" alt="The Jinx Robert Durst"><strong> Well, I think it's just great when you can put on women's clothes, have a fight with a neighbor who rages at you, chop him up, and then you both just say "uncle."</strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"> You know, I still regret not clearing things up with Richie Sambora. Sometimes I think that's why I have trouble sleeping. In fact, I'll just call him up right now and try to get the whole thing over with. [Picks up phone.] Our friends at AT&amp;T will connect me. [Phone rings.]</strong></p>
<p><strong>Richie Sambora [over the phone]:</strong> Yeah? Yeah? <br><br><strong>Tony Bennett/<strong>Alec Baldwin:</strong></strong> Is this Richie Sambora? <br><br><strong>Sambora:</strong> Yeah. Who is this? <br><br><strong>Tony Bennett/<strong>Alec Baldwin:</strong></strong> This is your neighbor, Tony Bennett. I got a beef with your bird.<br><br><strong>Sambora:<br><strong>Tony Bennett/<strong>Alec Baldwin:</strong></strong> [Hangs up phone.] I heard it. He said, "I'm sorry." That's what I've been waiting for 12 years. A simple apology from Richie Sambora. Isn't it great, Robert, when it all works out in the end?<br><br><strong>Robert Durst/<strong>Fred Armisen:</strong></strong> It's so great. It really is the best.<br><br><strong>Tony Bennett/<strong>Alec Baldwin:</strong></strong> Fat Joe, I'm gonna have to catch you on the flipside. I wanna say thanks to my guests, Robert the neighbor chopper, Angie Dickinson, Richie Sambora, those maxi-pads with four-wall protection, and crazy Pat, the rooster sucker!</strong></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-lapd-insists-that-the-durst-arrest-was-actually-not-connected-to-hbos-the-jinx-2015-3" >The LAPD insists Robert Durst's arrest was actually not connected to HBO's 'The Jinx'</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-robert-durst-sketch-2003-2015-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pixels-trailer-adam-sandler-donkey-kong-pac-man-video-games-movie-2015-3">Adam Sandler may finally have a hit with 'Pixels' — watch the awesome trailer</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-robert-durst-sketch-2003-2015-3Fred Armisen played Robert Durst in this amazing 'Saturday Night Live' sketch from 2003http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-robert-durst-sketch-2003-2015-3
Wed, 18 Mar 2015 11:15:00 -0400Aly Weisman
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55098e966bb3f76048b3c3fc-1200-600/robert-durst-16.jpg" border="0" alt="robert durst "></p><p>"The Jinx" star Robert Durst's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-lapd-insists-that-the-durst-arrest-was-actually-not-connected-to-hbos-the-jinx-2015-3" target="_blank">recent arrest</a> is just the latest in a series of legal troubles for the 71-year-old real-estate heir accused of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/nyregion/robert-durst-to-face-felony-charges-at-scene-of-arrest.html?_r=0" target="_blank">murdering three people</a>.</p>
<p>In 2003, Durst went on trial for the murder and dismemberment of his Galveston, Texas, neighbor, Morris Black. While many considered the case a slam dunk in finally putting Durst behind bars after the murder of his best friend, Susan Berman, and <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2015/03/robert-durst-murders-wife-susie-berman" target="_blank">disappearance of his wife</a> 21 years prior, Durst's high-powered defense attorney claimed self-defense and he was <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20050403214317/http://www.courttv.com/trials/durst/verdict_ctv.html" target="_blank">acquitted of murder</a>.</p>
<p>Those who had been following the high-profile case went nuts after the verdict, which was covered on every major news outlet.</p>
<p>Even "Saturday Night Live" mocked the shocking verdict.</p>
<p>In the November 13, 2003, episode of "Saturday Night Live," Fred Armisen played Robert Durst ...</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55098c3869bedde552b3c3fa-1200-600/fred-armisen-robert-durst-snl-1.png" border="0" alt="Fred Armisen Robert Durst SNL">... being interviewed by Tony Bennett, played by host Alec Baldwin.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/550993f069bedde06cb3c3fa-1200-600/alec-baldwin-tony-bennett.png" border="0" alt="Alec Baldwin tony bennett"> While video of the sketch is not available online, HBO's "The Jinx" plays a clip from it in episode five.</p>
<p>Following Durst's weekend arrest and everyone's fascination with the case following Sunday's <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/03/the-jinx-finale-a-voyeuristic-thrill-ride/387901/" target="_blank">explosive "The Jinx" finale</a>, the sketch is now more relevant than ever.</p>
<p><strong>Read the funny <a href="http://snltranscripts.jt.org/03/03ftony.phtml" target="_blank">transcript</a> below:</strong></p>
<p><strong>Tony Bennett/Alec Baldwin:</strong> I guess you're right. I'm glad you're here anyway. I'd like to bring out my first guest. He's a millionaire who chopped up his neighbor in their apartment complex. Some people seem to have a beef with that. He just won the big court case, so I bet he's got some pep in his step. Please welcome Robert Durst. [Creepy white-haired dude comes in, sits.] Thank you for coming, Robert. You look great. Hey, that's a real top-notch sport coat. James Garner — I mean, eat your heart out!</p>
<p><strong>Robert Durst/Fred Armisen:</strong> Oh why thank you!<br><br><strong>So how's it going? </strong><br><br>Well, better now. I was a little scared there for a while.<br><br><strong>Now, uh, you chopped up your neighbor! Tell us about that.</strong><br><br>Well, he raged at me. And as I was defending myself, I fell and accidentally ... chopped him up.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55098bad69bedd4d53b3c3fa/robert durst snl gif.gif" border="0" alt="Robert Durst SNL GIF"><br><strong>Man, that's outta sight. Now, I'm a pretty laid-back kind of guy. But I've had my own gripes with my neighbors over the years. You know, one summer I lived next door to Richie Sambora at Big Bear Lake. And this dude had a tropical bird the size of Chita Rivera that just wouldn't stop squawking.</strong><br><br>Oh, that would wear me out.<br><br><strong>You telling me, Robert. Now, what's the scoop on this first wife of yours that went missing? Did you chop her up, too?</strong><br><br>I had absolutely nothing to do with that ... <br><br><strong>Hey, Robert. hold that thought on the chopping-up-your-missing-wife business. I gotta mention one of our sponsors. [Holds up a maxi-pad package.] <em>Stayfree Super Maxi Pads with four-wall protection.</em> Robert, do you mind? [Robert holds the maxi-pads.] </strong></p>
<p><strong>In my book, all ladies should look like Angie Dickinson. That's why it's a shame when their monthlies keep them from wearing cream-colored pantsuits. You know, I once made love to Angie Dickinson for seven hours! Then a security guard came in and said, "Mr. Bennett, Madame Tussauds is closing."[Throws maxi pads away.] </strong></p>
<p><strong>Anyway, we're back with Robert Durst. Now, they also say that you're something of a cross-dresser.</strong><br><br>Well, you know, on occasion. I have dressed in women's clothing ... accidentally, yes.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/55098cec69bedd4653b3c3fd-1051-525/the-jinx-robert-durst.png" border="0" alt="The Jinx Robert Durst"><strong> Well, I think it's just great when you can put on women's clothes, have a fight with a neighbor who rages at you, chop him up, and then you both just say "uncle."</strong><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;"> You know, I still regret not clearing things up with Richie Sambora. Sometimes I think that's why I have trouble sleeping. In fact, I'll just call him up right now and try to get the whole thing over with. [Picks up phone.] Our friends at AT&amp;T will connect me. [Phone rings.]</strong></p>
<p><strong>Richie Sambora [over the phone]:</strong> Yeah? Yeah? <br><br><strong>Tony Bennett/<strong>Alec Baldwin:</strong></strong> Is this Richie Sambora? <br><br><strong>Sambora:</strong> Yeah. Who is this? <br><br><strong>Tony Bennett/<strong>Alec Baldwin:</strong></strong> This is your neighbor, Tony Bennett. I got a beef with your bird.<br><br><strong>Sambora:<br><strong>Tony Bennett/<strong>Alec Baldwin:</strong></strong> [Hangs up phone.] I heard it. He said, "I'm sorry." That's what I've been waiting for 12 years. A simple apology from Richie Sambora. Isn't it great, Robert, when it all works out in the end?<br><br><strong>Robert Durst/<strong>Fred Armisen:</strong></strong> It's so great. It really is the best.<br><br><strong>Tony Bennett/<strong>Alec Baldwin:</strong></strong> Fat Joe, I'm gonna have to catch you on the flipside. I wanna say thanks to my guests, Robert the neighbor chopper, Angie Dickinson, Richie Sambora, those maxi-pads with four-wall protection, and crazy Pat, the rooster sucker!</strong></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-lapd-insists-that-the-durst-arrest-was-actually-not-connected-to-hbos-the-jinx-2015-3" >The LAPD insists Robert Durst's arrest was actually not connected to HBO's 'The Jinx'</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-robert-durst-sketch-2003-2015-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pixels-trailer-adam-sandler-donkey-kong-pac-man-video-games-movie-2015-3">Adam Sandler may finally have a hit with 'Pixels' — watch the awesome trailer</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/arnold-schwarzenegger-hans-franz-musical-2015-3Arnold Schwarzenegger almost starred in a bizarre musical based on an 'SNL' sketch http://www.businessinsider.com/arnold-schwarzenegger-hans-franz-musical-2015-3
Tue, 10 Mar 2015 10:10:08 -0400Eric Eisenberg
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54fef6ad6da811081deb1ed7-1200-600/hans-and-franz-state-fram.png" border="0" alt="Hans &amp; Franz State Fram"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It was just a </span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/new/An-Ambiguously-Gay-Duo-Movie-Almost-Happened-Here-Why-It-Didn-t-69837.html">few weeks ago</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> that Robert Smigel made headlines revealing the details of the </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Ambiguously Gay Duo</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> live-action movie that never wound up happening – but now the former </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/television/NBC-May-Start-Streaming-Tonight-Show-SNL-Cord-Cutters-70454.html">Saturday Night Live</a></em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> writer has spilled the beans on yet another "almost" film that was going to be based on a skit.</span></span></p>
<p><span>It turns out that there was a </span><em>Hans and Franz</em><span> movie once in the works – based on the bit starring Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon – and the big screen adaptation would have both been a musical and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. </span><br><br><span>Smigel recently recorded a digital exclusive for </span><em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mH-OsvxW1Y">Late Night With Seth Meyers</a></em><span>, and in the video he went into specifics about the </span><em>Hans and Franz</em><span> movie that nearly joined the ranks of </span><em>Saturday Night Live</em><span> films. </span></p>
<p><span>Taking us all the way back to the early 1990s, the writer explained that he initially thought the idea of making a movie about two ridiculous bodybuilders was a "terrible idea," but that tune changed when </span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/Sabotage-6658.html">Arnold Schwarzenegger</a><span> called Dana Carvey expressing interest in pursuing the project, and it was pitched that the feature be made as a musical. </span></p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54fef1e7eab8ea8262d4bdd3-1200-600/robert-smigel.png" border="0" alt="Robert Smigel"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Along with </span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Wayne-World-Watch-Mike-Myers-Reprise-His-Beloved-Sketch-SNL-40-70071.html">Dana Carvey</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, Kevin Nealon and </span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/reviews/Conan-O-Brien-Can-t-Stop-5323.html">Conan O'Brien</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, Robert Smigel began to write songs for the </span><em style="line-height: 1.5em;">Hans and Franz</em><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> film, and it was from there that a story began to take form.</span></p>
<p><span>The initial idea was that the story would start in the "Austrian section of New York" – which is described as having rolling hills and bodybuilders everywhere – and would take the lead characters on a cross-country to California, where they would pursue fame and celebrity a la what Arnold Schwarzenegger accomplished.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The writer added that Schwarzenegger would have played a dual role in the movie, first appearing as Hans and Franz’s grandmother. Smigel doesn’t specifically say what the second part would have been, but it’s implied that he would be playing some kind of version of himself. </span></p>
<p><span>You can watch Robert Smigel tell the story in the video below, and also hear him sing one of the jazzy tunes that Arnold Schwarzenegger would have performed in the </span><em>Hans and Franz</em><span> film. </span></p>
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6mH-OsvxW1Y" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span>If you’re like me, after watching that video you found yourself curious about the Hans and Franz commercial starring Aaron Rogers that </span><a href="http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Robert-Smigel-Talks-About-His-Failed-Green-Lantern-Comedy-With-Jack-Black-25316.html">Robert Smigel</a><span> mentions and the gag involving the two Austrian bodybuilders doing a bit of waterskiing. The good news is that we live in the internet age, where basically everything is stored online, and you can actually watch that commercial below! (the specific scene in question is at around the 30 second mark): </span></p>
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/WxjCJxfECD8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><span>There is quite a lot about this project that sounds monstrously stupid, but at the same time there are bits and pieces that do sound funny. At the end of the day, it’s probably best that this movie didn’t get made. </span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/snl-leslie-jones-rant-against-nyc-2015-3" >SNL's incredible rant about what's wrong with NYC</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/arnold-schwarzenegger-hans-franz-musical-2015-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/3-things-after-every-workout-gatorade-2014-10">Gatorade's Top Doctor Says You Should Do These 3 Things After Every Workout</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/nicholas-carlson-marissa-mayer-fun-facts-snl-2015-33 things you didn't know about Marissa Mayerhttp://www.businessinsider.com/nicholas-carlson-marissa-mayer-fun-facts-snl-2015-3
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 07:41:00 -0500Alana Kakoyiannis
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<p>Business Insider's chief correspondent <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/nicholas-carlson" target="_blank">Nicholas Carlson</a> reveals the three most surprising facts he learned about the "geek queen of Silicon Valley" while researching his book, "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Marissa-Mayer-Fight-Save-Yahoo/dp/1455556610" target="_blank">Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo!</a>"</p>
<p><em>Produced by Alana Kakoyiannis</em></p>
<p><strong>Follow BI Video:</strong> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsider.Video">On Facebook</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nicholas-carlson-marissa-mayer-fun-facts-snl-2015-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-original-first-five-seasons-of-snl-2015-2Relive the glory days with the first five seasons of 'Saturday Night Live' — which you can't find on Netflixhttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-original-first-five-seasons-of-snl-2015-2
Thu, 19 Feb 2015 19:08:00 -0500Insider Picks
<p>"Saturday Night Live" <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jerry-seinfeld-and-larry-david-on-snls-40th-anniversary-special-2015-2">celebrated</a> its 40th anniversary on Sunday with a live show featuring many of former cast members and hosts.</p>
<p>But let's face it: a three-hour live show isn't long enough to cover all the classic skits.</p>
<p>If you're still craving the old-school SNL shows, we recommend picking up the original five seasons of SNL featuring the greats such as <span>Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and Bill Murray</span>.</p>
<p>(And, sorry, they're not on Netflix.)</p>
<hr>
<h3>Season 1</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XJSHNA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B000XJSHNA&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnlbooks-20&amp;linkId=JD7I5KOJF6VWAMDP"><strong><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54e248b16bb3f71f5e0349a9-400-300/saturday-night-live-snl.png" border="0" alt="saturday night live snl" width="400" height="300"></strong></a></p>
<p>Here's to the original season starring Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase.</p>
<p>Famous guest appearances include Simon and Garfunkel, ABBA, and Raquel Welch.</p>
<h3>Amazon Instant Video:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XJSHNA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B000XJSHNA&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnlbooks-20&amp;linkId=JD7I5KOJF6VWAMDP">from $1.99 to $9.99</a></h3>
<h3>DVD: <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">$39.98</span> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JLQPYK/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B000JLQPYK&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnl1to5-20&amp;linkId=W6N4YT6DAB3PTVI7">$12.99</a></h3>
<hr>
<h3>Season 2</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010R29CY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B0010R29CY&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnl1to5-20&amp;linkId=CRIU6RRNEGGN4EVW"><strong><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54e248d1eab8ead91be3dcdf-716-537/saturday-night-live-snl-1.png" border="0" alt="saturday night live snl" width="400" height="300"></strong></a></p>
<p>Bill Murray joins SNL after the mid-season departure of Chevy Chase.</p>
<p>Episode-wise, there's the incredibly famous, Emmy-winning episode starring Sissy Spacek and Richard Baskin.</p>
<p><span>And, yup, season 2 was the birth of Coneheads.</span></p>
<h3>Amazon Instant Video:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010R29CY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B0010R29CY&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnl1to5-20&amp;linkId=CRIU6RRNEGGN4EVW">from $1.99 to $9.99</a></h3>
<h3>DVD:&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: line-through;">$39.98</span>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VNMMVG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B000VNMMVG&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnl1to5-20&amp;linkId=H5F5T4XFDGQUJ77R">$12.99</a></h3>
<hr>
<h3>Season 3</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019RSQ4K/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B0019RSQ4K&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnl1to5-20&amp;linkId=DATKSCAI4HK6CZNH"><strong><strong><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54e24943ecad04e433e35572-691-518/saturday-night-live-snl-4.png" border="0" alt="saturday night live snl" width="400" height="300"></strong></strong></a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">SNL had an "Anyone Can Host" contest during season 3. The winner — 80-year old Miskel Spillman — remains the first and only non-celebrity to host SNL.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Fun fact: Hugh Hefner hosted in season 3.</span></p>
<h3>Amazon Instant Video:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019RSQ4K/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B0019RSQ4K&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnl1to5-20&amp;linkId=DATKSCAI4HK6CZNH">from $1.99 to $9.99</a></h3>
<h3>DVD:&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: line-through;">$39.98</span>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013LRKQC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B0013LRKQC&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnl1to5-20&amp;linkId=UM6BDZQ2NEMGNKHC">$14.99</a></h3>
<hr>
<h3>Season 4</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OOF7ZO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B001OOF7ZO&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnl1to5-20&amp;linkId=OYOIGJSTJTYSYUL7"><strong><strong><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/54e248f76bb3f7dd600349ab-695-521/saturday-night-live-snl-2.png" border="0" alt="saturday night live snl" width="400" height="300"></strong></strong></a></p>
<p><span>The Rolling Stones hosted and performed in the fourth season premiere.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>And even former mayor Ed Koch stopped by for the show.</span></p>
<h3>Amazon Instant Video:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OOF7ZO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B001OOF7ZO&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnl1to5-20&amp;linkId=OYOIGJSTJTYSYUL7">from $1.99 to $9.99</a></h3>
<h3>DVD:&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: line-through;">$39.98</span>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FFBI9G/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B001FFBI9G&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnl1to5-20&amp;linkId=2OJA7SBHAUGLKCEX">$16.99</a></h3>
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<h3>Season 5</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZBPPFM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B002ZBPPFM&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnl1to5-20&amp;linkId=QLTO2L4KNZVUFPBH"><strong><strong><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/54e249196bb3f7db600349a9-701-526/saturday-night-live-snl-3.png" border="0" alt="saturday night live snl" width="400" height="300"></strong></strong></a></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This was the first season without J</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">ohn Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. And this was also the final season for everyone in the cast.</span></p>
<h3>Amazon Instant Video:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZBPPFM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B002ZBPPFM&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnl1to5-20&amp;linkId=QLTO2L4KNZVUFPBH">from $1.99 to $9.99</a></h3>
<h3>DVD:&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: line-through;">$39.98</span>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MXG570/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B002MXG570&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnl1to5-20&amp;linkId=5VPLOPS4WXTV3ZKC">$12.96</a></h3><p><strong>WANT MORE?&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/insider-picks" >Click Here To See Our Other Insider Picks</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-original-first-five-seasons-of-snl-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/boys-asked-to-hit-a-girl-video-2015-1">What Happened When A Bunch Of Young Boys Were Told To Hit A Girl</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/books-about-the-history-of-snl-2015-2Read about the secrets, scandals, and affairs behind 'Saturday Night Live' in these 4 bookshttp://www.businessinsider.com/books-about-the-history-of-snl-2015-2
Tue, 17 Feb 2015 10:26:00 -0500Insider Picks
<p>Over the last 40 years, loads of "Saturday Night Live" sketches have made television history.</p>
<p>But even if you know all the famous sketches, we're betting that you haven't heard about all the scandals and affairs that happened behind the scenes.</p>
<p>Failures, drugs, loneliness, and stardom — get the inside scoop with these books.</p>
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<h3>"Saturday Night Live: The Book" by Alison Castle</h3>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/54e3497b6bb3f77d71c66d19-400-300/saturday-night-life-snl.png" border="0" alt="saturday night life snl" width="400" height="300">Here's a great coffee table book to have around.</p>
<p>This one comes with over 2,300 images from the studio's archives — many of which have never been published before.</p>
<p>And there's also an exclusive interview with the founder and executive producer Lorne Michaels.</p>
<h3>Hardcover: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3836552418/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=3836552418&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnlbooks-20&amp;linkId=52VJTFT2BS6LN7EE">$34.35</a></h3>
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<h3>"Live from New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Writers, and Guests" by James Andrew Miller</h3>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54e34a3deab8ea9b333e4916-621-465/saturday-night-life-snl-1.png" border="0" alt="saturday night life snl" width="401" height="300">This book was originally published for SNL's 30th anniversary. But now the authors have returned and added over 100 pages of new material on the fourth decade of the sketch show.</p>
<p>Check out all the stars, the secrets, and the controversies you didn't see on stage.</p>
<h3>Hardcover: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316295043/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0316295043&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnlbooks-20&amp;linkId=DTJD3VYUYUKLIOOL">$21.52</a><br>Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316295043/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0316295043&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnlbooks-20&amp;linkId=DTJD3VYUYUKLIOOL">$14.99</a></h3>
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<h3>"Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live" by Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad</h3>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/54e34c5769bedd2520c66d19-706-529/saturday-night-live-snl-5.png" border="0" alt="saturday night live snl" width="400" height="300">Take a tour through the first ten years of SNL. There are scandals, drugs, betrayals, failures, and affairs.</p>
<p>"It reads like a thriller," said the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006MNL3K0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B006MNL3K0&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnlbooks-20&amp;linkId=L3A6Z2UMKDHAFAVI">Associated Press</a>, "and may be the best book ever written about television."</p>
<h3>Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006MNL3K0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B006MNL3K0&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnlbooks-20&amp;linkId=L3A6Z2UMKDHAFAVI">$6.29</a></h3>
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<h3>BONUS: "Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life" by Steve Martin</h3>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/54e34c7b6bb3f7f308c66d1a-720-540/saturday-night-live-snl-steve-martin.png" border="0" alt="saturday night live snl steve martin" width="400" height="300">Technically, this one isn't about SNL — but Steve Martin was a frequent host and guest on SNL (and Lorne Michaels was even his <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000188/bio">best man</a>).</p>
<p>Martin's autobiography details his early career as a comedian. He writes about the sacrifices he made, the loneliness of stardom, and the focus and discipline required for success.</p>
<p>And there's plenty of great career advice in here — even if you're not planning on becoming a comedian.</p>
<h3>Kindle: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006MNL3K0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B006MNL3K0&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=biipsnlbooks-20&amp;linkId=L3A6Z2UMKDHAFAVI">$6.29</a></h3>
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<p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>WANT MORE?&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/insider-picks" >Click Here To See Our Other Insider Picks</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/books-about-the-history-of-snl-2015-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/boys-asked-to-hit-a-girl-video-2015-1">What Happened When A Bunch Of Young Boys Were Told To Hit A Girl</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/how-leslie-jones-went-from-snl-to-ghostbusters-2015-1Here's How Leslie Jones Went From 'SNL' Writer To Starring In The New 'Ghostbusters'http://www.businessinsider.com/how-leslie-jones-went-from-snl-to-ghostbusters-2015-1
Thu, 29 Jan 2015 13:30:00 -0500Dan Reilly
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<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54c93f98eab8eaa9719f539c-1200-924/leslie-jones.jpg" border="0" alt="leslie jones">Tuesday <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2015/01/ghostbusters-cast-melissa-mccarthy.html" target="_blank">brought the long-awaited news</a> about who, exactly, would be inheriting the <em>Ghostbusters </em>mantle in Paul Feig’s upcoming reboot. Melissa McCarthy and a trio of <em>Saturday Night Live­–</em>affiliated actresses: show alumna Kristen Wiig, current cast member Kate McKinnon, and recent <em>SNL </em>addition Leslie Jones. </p>
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<p>The latter star might be the most surprising choice — she only made her first appearance on <em>SNL</em> last May, when she was working there as a writer, not a cast member. The 47-year-old was promoted this year to featured player, making her the oldest cast member to ever get hired for that particular job, edging out Michael McKean (<em>This Is Spinal Tap</em>, <em>Best in Show)</em>, who was hired at age 46 in 1994.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Jones's addition marks the first time two African-American women have been part of the ensemble. But while Jones — who quickly established herself as an <em>SNL</em> standout due to her brash sensibility, humor, and forceful presence (certainly helped by her six-foot stature) — may be new to the wider public, she’s actually a comedy veteran. So, for everyone who’s only becoming familiar with Jones now, here’s her long road to <em>Ghostbusters.</em></p>
<p><strong>Early Years<br></strong>Born in Memphis, Jones moved with her family to Los Angeles when her dad became an engineer for the radio station KJLH, owned by none other than Stevie Wonder. Thanks to a basketball scholarship, Jones went to Chapman University in Orange, California, before transferring to Colorado State. In 1987, unbeknownst to her, a friend entered Jones in a "Funniest Person on Campus" competition, which Jones ended up going through with — and winning. "When I walked off that stage,” <a href="http://www.sandiego.com/articles/2011-11-03/leslie-jones-craft-comedy">she said</a> in 2011 about the life-changing event, “I had all the intentions of being the next Eddie Murphy." Sufficiently emboldened, she ditched her old ideas about pursuing careers in engineering and law and moved to L.A. to try to make it as a comedian.<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54c9b667eab8eaff5b9f539c-1200-600/leslie-jones-stand-up-comedian.jpg" border="0" alt="leslie jones stand up comedian"></p>
<p><strong>Beginning Setbacks and Burgeoning Fame<br></strong><span>Lacking experience and still working out her material, Jones found that her nascent stand-up career featured more bombs than bursts. She got a big break opening for Jamie Foxx at the Comedy Store during his </span><em>In Living Color </em><span>years, but the audience ended up booing her. Still, she learned a valuable lesson from Foxx, </span><a href="http://www.pollstar.com/news_article.aspx?ID=714652">who told her</a><span>, "The reason you were so bad is because you didn’t have anything to talk about … Go live life for a little while and then start writing." She took that advice, worked on her act, and later landed high-profile gigs at comedy festivals, specials on BET and Comedy Central, an opening spot on Katt Williams's 2010 U.S. tour, and, in 2011, her own Showtime stand-up special, </span><em>Problem Child.</em></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"> <strong><em>Saturday Night Live<br></em></strong><span>After years with a dearth of black women on staff, </span><em>SNL</em><span> made significant moves in 2014, adding Sasheer Zamata as a featured player and </span><a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/saturday-night-live-adds-two-669180" target="_blank">hiring Jones and LaKendra Tookes</a><span> in January 2014. It only took a few months for Jones to grow beyond the writers’ room and get herself in front of the camera. Perhaps her first notable appearance came during a "Weekend Update" commentary spot in which she discussed slavery and race in the context of her romantic life, height, and history, joking that she’d would be "the No. 1 slave draft pick." Shock of all shocks, some viewers were offended, and Jones gave a perfect </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/05/leslie-jones-slave-sketch_n_5269479.html">non-apology via Twitter</a><span>.</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"><strong><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/54c93fb86bb3f76a2d621f9c-918-459/leslie-jones-snl-3.png" border="0" alt="Leslie Jones SNL">Getting <em>Ghostbusters<br></em></strong><span>The 2014–15 season of </span><em>SNL</em><span> found Jones promoted to featured player, and she’s easily established herself as a fan favorite. Highlights so far include </span><a href="http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-leslie-jones-on-relationships/2815290">an "Update"<em> </em>bit</a><span> in which she hit on/intimidated “that delicious marshmallow” Colin Jost, and her verse on the Thanksgiving-pegged rap sketch "Back-Home Ballers."</span></p>
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<p class="embed-spacer"> <span>Now her rapid recent rise — which encompassed a prominent role in Chris Rock's </span><em>Top Five — </em><span>a culminates with </span><em>Ghostbusters. </em><span>Director Paul Feig (</span><em>Bridesmaids, The Heat</em><span>) has proven himself as someone who can shepherd along a killer ensemble comedy. So there’s reason to hope that Jones’s role will be more than just a reprise of </span><a href="http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/11/05/ghostbusters-ernie-hudson/">Ernie Hudson’s thankless Winston Zeddemore</a><span>from the original </span><em>Ghostbusters</em><span>. Jones may not yet be a star on the level of her fellow cast members, but over her nearly 30 years in comedy, she’s more than earned the chance to show that she ain’t afraid of no ghosts. </span></p>
</div><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ghostbusters-reboot-cast-2015-1" >Here's Who Will Star In The All-Female 'Ghostbusters' Reboot </a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-leslie-jones-went-from-snl-to-ghostbusters-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p>